Mia by Ted Baker

 If you haven't guessed by now, I am a huge fan of the Ted Baker beauty range and have featured some of the products on my blog which you can see here, here, here, here, here and here. The handbag sized perfumes are simply brilliant and I was lucky enough to be sent Mia to try out.

I am a huge fan of perfume, though I can be quite picky about which ones I like and I tend to loathe ones which are really popular. Mia by Ted Baker** is one of those scents that I adored from the very first spritz. Like similar products from the range, Mia is housed inside this funky triangle shaped box which is the lightest of pink shades with pretty rose gold edging which matches the logo in the centre. Inside the box is a lovely slimline bottle of the fragrance which has a spray applicator. The bottle for me mirrors the packaging really well and it has a dusky pink shading to it with the lid mirroring the rose gold colour and you can clearly see the TB logo.

Written on the packaging Mia is described as being:

'Sassy, stylish and sophisticated, Mia lights up the room effortlessly. With an irresistible blend of warmth, charm and allure, she is every girl's best friend.'

For me this is a perfect description of Mia, it is a really lovely scent which I prefer to use for daytime wear, perfect for these lovely warm sunny days. It has top notes of fresh lemon, raspberry, blackcurrant, freesia and rose blooms are combined with a seductive base of warm patchouli and golden amber which make this scent subtly sweet and for me the floral ingredients are really noticeable. Once I have spritzed it onto my skin, I find that the scent lasts on average between 4-6 hours before I need to re-apply.

It is a convenient size for having in your handbag and if you like the sound of Ma and want to try can find Mia available at Ted Baker and Boots for jut £15.00 which is worth every penny.

What is your favourite Summer fragrance? Have you tried any from the Ted Baker range?

Re:Spa Hot Stone Massage

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to the Reebok Spa or Re:Spa as it is known in Canary Wharf for a massage, not just any massage, it is called the Reebok Muscle Melt Massage, so I was quite excited to see what it would be like and I was delighted to get the chance to go back to Canary Wharf where I used to live when I first moved to London.

The spa itself is situated right in the heart of Canary Wharf, you cannot miss it and they describe themselves as follows:

"Our tranquil spa offers a full range of beauty treatments, therapies and sports rehabilitation. An express treatment bar, eight luxurious treatment rooms and a dedicated relaxation area create a haven for you to unwind and re-energise, all ideally situated within London’s most prestigious health and fitness club- the Reebok Sports Club".

As I got the lift to the right floor, again it is all helpfully signposted, I was greeted by a really lovely receptionist who took me to the actual spa itself where I was introduced to a further receptionist.  Having had a very brief but thorough tour of the reception area where I could pick up, smell and test some of the products on shelves, I was asked to fill out a questionnaire which included questions such as whether or not I was pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication or had allergies.  Whilst doing that I was given a glass of water which had some fresh lemon in it, totally thirst quenching, on what was a rather warm afternoon.  Once my form was completed, I was handed a towel, robe and some slippers and taken to a private area where I could sit back and relax until my therapist arrived.    

Sitting here, I was so relaxed, the lights are dimmed so it is almost dark and there are candles flickering on every surface, along with more lemon or lime water for you to drink.  I sat back on one of the chairs, put my feet up and went off into a world of my own, so much so that I almost missed saying hello to my therapist, who was probably standing there for some time waiting for me to notice her (oops) and when I did managed to bring myself back to earth, I was taken to my treatment room.

Once inside the treatment room, I was told all about the massage which is described as follows:

"Reebok Muscle Melt Massage - A super charged heat treatment with hot stones, this is our Aromatherapy Associates signature treatment.  Using stimulating ginger and black pepper, along with deep cross frictions to melt away knots, tension and pain.  Incorporating the face and body to give the ultimate treatment experience".

What I really liked was how at ease I was made to feel and how friendly everyone that I met was.  I was able to ask as many questions as I felt I needed too and each one was answered properly.  Before my massage began, obviously I had to take clothes off, leave my knickers on and then, lie on my front on the massage table with my head in the specially designed hold and it was actually really comfortable and I probably nodded off a few times because i was so relaxed.

The massage itself was absolutely amazing and not at all like I was expecting it to be.  I had told my therapist that I had a dull ache in my right shoulder and it was given a thorough massaging and as this happened, I could feel all the tension literally melt away.  My shoulders were worked, my back was worked and even my legs and feet had a good massage.  The feeling of the hot stones, which are not just placed on your back, they are used as part of the massage, was a phenomenal feeling, that extra little bit of pressure and the warm feeling that came from the stones was just amazing, I can't describe to you just how nice it was to feel all that tension and stress that had clearly built up, disappeared.

After the massage which took 60 minutes, I was given as much time as was needed to gather myself together and I was told to drink plenty of fluids to ensure I remained hydrated and given a little goody bag which was so very sweet.  

Now a whole week after my massage, I am still pain free in my shoulders and my lower back, which is the first time in a long time I have felt comfortable carrying my handbag.

If you are thinking of visiting the Re:Spa then I cannot recommend it highly enough to you, it is absolutely brilliant and I loved it.  You can see the vitual tour  so you can see for yourself how lovely the whole place is.

Moulin Noir and the Disney Villain!

I am a big fan of classic French furniture.  Having just come back from a few days away in France, we went sight seeing and got to see some fantastic houses and we had afternoon tea in a fantastic classic French Hotel and in every room it was so spectacularly decorated that I wanted to bring home one of the bedroom suites, sadly I wasn't allowed to take photos but I did get to look in every room which was either white or black, this included the tea room and the main dinner room.

When you think of French furniture, you think classic, well finished, handcrafted and decorated which is exactly what this was.  The walls were a deep rooted purple and all of the furniture the deepest darkest black I had ever seen with the most intricate detail I have ever seen, it is something I can imagine being in the bedroom of a Disney Villain.  Then there is the velvet finish which really gives it that extra wow factor for me.

When I got home I typed Moulin Noir into my search engine and found a lot of similar styles to the ones I had fallen in love with in France, tradefurniturecompany.co.uk has the styles which are the most similar and this is what they look like:

Image Source

I absolutely love the bed and the vanity table with the mirror and the stool, the detail is just amazing and I can well imagine the bench sitting at the bottom of the bed for my three cats to sleep on.  If only I had a house big enough to show off styles such as these.

Do you like this type of furniture?  Is there a style which you wish you could have in your home?

*In collaboration with tradefurniturecompany.com

Little Mix Make-up - New Releases!

Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards, better known as girl group Little Mix, have been working with the cosmetics brand Collection to produce a range of make-up, some of which is available in both Boots and Superdrug.

Source

I was very kindly sent a package of new products to play with and when I first saw them, I was a little dubious that I would like them, but I was always taught never to judge a book by its cover and here is what I thought.

Recently, the Little Mix girls have extended their range to include moisturising lip balms, which are available in each of the girls' signature shade and favourite scent.  The lipbalms will have an RRP of £1.99 each.

Each Lip-balm is held within a black plastic tube with white see through plastic cover and the signature of each girl matches the shade of their lipbalm.  

Jade has gone for a raspberry flavour which is a baby pink coloured balm and when applied to the lips, it is really moisturising.

Jesy's lip-balm is a funky purple colour which is a vanilla scented lipbalm and sadly there is no colour transfer to the lips at all, but it does feel quite moisturising.

Leigh-Anne has opted for a mint flavoured lip-balm and the balm itself is a lovely mint green shade, again as with the other two balms, it is moisturising on the lips, though it leaves no hint or trace of the mint green colour behind,

The final lip-balm comes from Perrie, which has no scent to it, because apparently she has no sense of smell, is also colourless, instead it is called a natural shimmer and is a brilliant white shade, but this one differs slightly to the other three in that there is a shimmer to it. Within the lipbalm itself are teeny tiny little particles, which when applied to the lips, give them a bit of a shimmer.

I am a big fan of these lip-balms, they remind me of the Maybelline Baby Lips, which I happen to really like.

Also added to the range is the All About The Eyes Palette which will retail at a very pocket friendly price of £3.19 and includes six shades; Feather, Sunkissed, Golden Sand, Dazzling Brown, Cocoa Dream and Blackbird.

I actually really like this palette, it is a nice mixture of brown shades which are quite pigmented which is a lot more than I expected and they all work quite well together.  It is said that each singer within the band uses this palette to create their own signature look.

This is what each shade looks like:

 From left to right Feather, Sunkissed, Golden Sand, Dazzling Brown, Cocoa Dream and Blackbird.

Have you tried any of the Little Mix range so far?  

Do you like what is on offer here?

These lip balms and eyeshadow palette will be available to buy from Superdrug from 30 July.